Brennan D S, Spencer A J, Slade G D
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Dental Statistics and Research Unit, University of Adelaide.
Aust Dent J. 2000 Mar;45(1):37-45. doi: 10.1111/j.1834-7819.2000.tb00240.x.
Health card holders are a financially disadvantaged group and are the target population eligible for publicly-funded dental care. While their health status is generally worse compared with other Australians, there is also considerable variation among card holders. The aims of this study were to describe the oral health status of publicly-funded dental patients by type of care, geographic location and age, and to compare trends over time against other Australian studies. Patients were sampled randomly, based on date of birth, by State/Territory dental services in 1995-96. Dentists recorded oral health measures at the initial visit of a course of care using written instructions, but there was no formal calibration. The 6109 patients sampled were weighted in proportion to the numbers of publicly-funded dental patients for each State/Territory. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that caries experience measured by the DMFT index increased across older age groups (p < 0.05). For rural compared with urban patients, mean numbers of decayed and filled teeth tended to be higher. For emergency compared with non-emergency care, mean numbers of decayed and missing teeth were higher, and filled teeth lower. The findings of this monitoring survey document high levels of previous disease and treatment and indicate variation between subgroups of users of publicly-funded dental care. This included an uneven geographic distribution of oral health and disease, and variation in unmet treatment needs by type of course of care. Temporal comparisons indicate publicly-funded patients have experienced the population trend towards lower levels of tooth loss over time but have higher levels of untreated decayed teeth compared with the general population.
健康卡持有者是经济上处于不利地位的群体，也是符合公共资助牙科护理条件的目标人群。与其他澳大利亚人相比，他们的健康状况总体较差，但卡持有者之间也存在很大差异。本研究的目的是按护理类型、地理位置和年龄描述公共资助牙科患者的口腔健康状况，并与其他澳大利亚研究比较随时间的趋势。1995 - 1996年，根据出生日期，由州/领地牙科服务机构随机抽取患者样本。牙医在护理过程的初次就诊时使用书面说明记录口腔健康指标，但没有进行正式校准。抽取的6109名患者按每个州/领地公共资助牙科患者的数量比例进行加权。多元线性回归分析表明，用DMFT指数衡量的龋齿经历在老年组中有所增加（p < 0.05）。与城市患者相比，农村患者的龋坏和补牙平均数量往往更高。与非急诊护理相比，急诊护理的龋坏和缺失牙齿平均数量更高，补牙数量更低。这项监测调查的结果记录了既往疾病和治疗的高水平，并表明公共资助牙科护理使用者亚组之间存在差异。这包括口腔健康和疾病的地理分布不均衡，以及按护理疗程类型划分的未满足治疗需求的差异。时间比较表明，随着时间的推移，公共资助患者经历了牙齿脱落水平下降的总体趋势，但与普通人群相比，未治疗的龋坏牙齿水平更高。
